Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Soon Johor will be the fourth state that observes Friday and Saturday as weekend rest days.

Last Saturday, The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, announced the change of the state’s rest days to Friday and Saturday, from Saturday and Sunday previously, effective Jan 1, 2014.

The decision was announced during the investiture ceremony last Saturday in conjunction with his 55th birthday.

The sultan said the decision was made after receiving feedback from various quarters and to allow Muslims to perform their religious obligations on Friday without having to rush back to work.

Some quarters are surprised that the announcement was made by the Sultan, instead of the Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled Nordin, as this is a state policy matter.

The switch in the weekend rest days is perceived as a political move to demonstrate the influence of Islamic culture in the southern state.

However, the timing has puzzled some at a time when the state has started seeing the progress of developments in Iskandar Malaysia. The project has to strive hard to attract high value-added and knowledge-based foreign direct investments into Johor.

Analysts said that the state is expected to turn into a bustling international metropolitan area in the future.

There are concerns that the new rest days will, to some extent, create inconvenience that will slow down business transactions, particularly those involving state government departments.

For instance, a cheque that is deposited on Thursday after office hours would not be cleared until Sunday in states that have Friday and Saturday as rest days. Consequently, the cheque payee, who is in the Klang Valley, would have to wait until the following Monday to draw cash at the bank. Not to mention overseas transactions.

The other three states that observe Friday and Saturday as the weekend rest days are Kedah, Kelantan and Terrenganu.

However, according to the Johor menteri besar, the private sector has the option to either follow the state government or observe Saturday and Sunday as rest days.

As for schools, he said, the switch in rest days means Muslim students will not have to rush to perform Friday prayers.

The menteri besar believes that the switch in the rest days will not have a huge effect on the state’s economy.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 25, 2013.


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